Dale Oliver(1919-2003)
- Animation Department
Dale Oliver grew up on a east Kansas farm and studied art at Bethany
College, Lindsborg, Kansas. He entered the US Army in March of 1942 and
then entered the Army Air Corps Glider Pilot Program that summer. He
went to the European Theater of Operations, (ETO), and was assigned to
the 434th Troop Carrier Group. He participated in the airborne
operations in Normandy, Holland, and the Rhine River Crossing. Mr.
Oliver sketched and painted glider-related art throughout his time as a
Glider Pilot, even carrying a sketch pad with him in the cockpit of his
gliders, sketching what he observed. After the war, Mr. Oliver began
his career as a commercial illustrator working for the Walt Disney
Studio in the animation department. After thirty-five years,
culminating with animation on the animated movie The Fox and the Hound (1981), he retired
and is doing personal projects, including sculpturing.